"Hmph!"
William's eyes narrowed. He quickly manifested a Nether Spear horizontally in front of him just as the demon wolf's claws struck.
*CRASH!*
The collision created a massive explosion of conflicting energies. Red lightning met purple-black death energy in a violent burst. The shockwave flattened every tree within fifteen meters, their trunks snapping like twigs. The ground beneath them cracked in a spiderweb pattern, chunks of earth flying upward before raining back down.
William was pushed back several meters, his feet carving trenches in the ground. "Ugh! That has some power behind it!"
The wolf landed and immediately pushed off again without pause. She released another volley of crescents while closing the distance, each one larger and brighter than before.
"You're persistent, I'll give you that!" William said.
He dove to the side into a narrow gap between trees. The crescents missed him but carved through the forest behind. Three massive oaks were sliced horizontally at their bases. They fell in slow motion with deafening crashes, creating a domino effect that took out dozens of smaller trees. The destruction spread like a wave through that section of forest.
As William rolled back to his feet, he pointed both hands forward. "Enough playing around!"
He released a continuous stream of smaller Nether Spears rapid-fire. Each one whistled through the air, leaving trails of dark energy. The barrage was relentless.
The demon wolf weaved between them desperately, her enhanced speed creating afterimages. But there were too many coming too fast. Three spears punched through her defenses, one through her shoulder with a spray of blood, one buried deep in her side, making her gasp, and one struck her hind leg, nearly crippling it.
"Ugh!" She crashed through multiple branches before hitting the ground hard. She rolled several times, plowing up dirt and grass, before struggling to stand on three legs. Blood dripped steadily from multiple wounds. Her earlier barrier was completely gone, and the crimson aura around her flickered weakly. Her breathing came in ragged gasps.
William approached slowly, brushing splinters off his clothes. His left arm still had that shallow cut, but otherwise, he looked mostly unharmed. "You're tougher than you look. Most would be dead already from those hits."
"Fuck... you..." the demon wolf panted, spitting blood onto the ground.
"Still fighting back? Good. I like people witha spine."
[Nether Spears!]
William raised his right hand and began gathering mana for a larger nether spears. The death magic coalesced and grew, becoming denser and more unstable. The grass around his feet withered and died instantly. Small cracks formed in the ground, spreading outward like black veins. Even the air seemed to grow colder and darker.
The demon wolf saw the gathering power, and her eyes widened. She knew what was coming. This was it, her last chance.
She dug her claws deep into the earth and threw her head back. Her body erupted with the most intense light yet, so bright it made the afternoon sun seem dim by comparison. Every ounce of her remaining life force converted into raw destructive power. The light was so intense that shadows disappeared completely. Trees nearby began to smoke and char from the sheer heat radiating off her body.
"If I'm dying here... then you're coming with me!" she roared.
William's grin widened dangerously. "Now that's what I wanted to see! Come on then!"
Her form blurred as she charged forward. She moved so fast, each footstep leaving a small crater that exploded with silver energy. The ground tore apart in her wake. She closed the fifty-meter distance in less than a second, her entire body becoming a silver comet of annihilation aimed directly at William.
"TAKE THIS!"
William released his completed Nether Spear. The massive lance of death energy shot forward, wobbling slightly from its immense power. It left a trail of dead and rotting vegetation in its wake, the very air turning gray and cold behind it.
The two attacks met head-on in the space between them.
*BOOOOOOM!*
The collision was apocalyptic. Silver light and purple-black energy exploded outward in a dome thirty meters wide. The shockwave radiated like an expanding sphere of pure destruction. Every single tree within the blast radius was instantly uprooted and thrown away like toys. Boulders shattered into gravel and dust. The ground didn't just crack, it melted and fused into black glass that spread in jagged, lightning-like patterns. The very air itself ignited, creating a brief firestorm that consumed everything flammable in range.
The sound was deafening, like a thousand thunderclaps concentrated into one moment.
Birds fled for miles in every direction. Small animals in underground burrows were killed by the sheer pressure wave. An entire section of the forest simply ceased to exist, replaced by a perfectly circular scorched crater forty meters across and three meters deep at the center.
Smoke and dust filled the air like a thick fog.
When it finally began to settle, William stood at the edge of the crater, breathing heavily. His clothes were torn and singed. His right arm trembled from the strain of channeling that much nether energy. Small cuts covered his exposed skin from flying debris. "Hah... hah... that was actually close..."
Forty meters away at the opposite edge of the crater, the demon wolf lay completely motionless in a smaller impact crater. Her fur was burned black in multiple places. Steam rose from her body. Blood pooled beneath her, already soaking into the scorched earth. Her chest barely moved with shallow breaths.
She'd lost.
William took a moment to catch his breath before walking toward her. His steps crunched on the glassy surface of the melted ground. He had to navigate around still-smoldering patches of fire.
The demon wolf's eyes cracked open slightly when she heard his footsteps. She tried to move but couldn't. Every muscle had been pushed beyond its limit. Her voice came out as barely a whisper. "Just... finish it..."
"After giving me that much trouble? No way." William crouched down next to her, inspecting the damage. "I need powerful subordinates… and you proved yourself."
"Don't... mock me..." she coughed weakly.
"I'm not mocking you." William carefully lifted her despite her larger size. "That last attack? If my Nether Spear had been even slightly less powerful, you would have killed me. That deserves acknowledgment."
The demon wolf's eyes widened in genuine surprise at his tone.
William looked around at the devastation they'd caused, the massive crater, the destroyed forest, the lingering dark energy, and burn marks. "We made quite a mess...."